Community development on the Near West Side of Cleveland has a storied history. Three neighborhoods had a community development office at one time, but dwindling funds over the years led to their closure. This is the story of the Stockyard Clark-Fulton

Three neighborhoods - Stockyards,Clark-Fulton, and Brooklyn Centre - needed a CDO. In 2010, the councilpersons and key representatives of these three neighborhoods signed contracts to form the Stockyard Clark-Fulton Brooklyn Centre CDO (hereafter, the Office).

The Office was a program of the Detroit-Shoreway CDO. Megan Meister became the first program director. A provision of the contract required that the community form a volunteer Community Advisory Council (hereafter, the Council) and work with the Office to address the needs of the residents. Gloria Ferris, a resident of the Brooklyn Centre neighborhood, organized the Council.

The Office and the Council together developed a strategic plan to improve the neighborhoods. The core strategies of the plan were to increase community involvement, improve buildings and housing through code enforcement and rehabilitation, connect residents with programs to assist them with utilities, support commercial development, and strengthen the Office organizationally.

The Challenge? Create a Community-Driven Model Based on Core Strategies

In 2013, the Office and the Council recognized that they were working with an intensive resident-driven action plan. Because each neighborhood is unique, they wanted a plan that preserved the neighborhoods’ individual identities, was based on what the residents say they need, and did not burn out residents and Office employees. They wanted their strategic focus to be the priorities of the residents, because they believed that the residents had the power and resources to change their neighborhoods for the better. The challenge to create a community-driven model was the reason they updated their strategic plan.

A consistent, critical mass of CDO and CAC members underwent an extensive strategic planning process in 2014. Tom Romito, a volunteer facilitator and resident of the Clark-Fulton neighborhood, guided the year-long process.

The strategic planning team had a goal of serving as an effective resource to improve the quality of live and respond to needs of our unique neighborhoods. They knew they had to overcome a number of barriers to achieve their goal. Their vision was to break them down by using their strategic plan and market their priorities to the City and residents. It would show that they were focused and that they knew what they wanted to do.

As Amir Merhi, owner of Wireless Nation on Storer Avenue, said, “Things will go our way if we work together and follow through.”

The Office knew it could not achieve this goal by itself. The Office was a community-based organization. The Office and the Council would support residents to work together to improve the community, but the community leaders of the future would have to rise from the residents themselves.

Economic development is our primary focus of the strategic plan. The Office and Council hopes to accomplish it by connecting with residents and businesses through community engagement and identifying resources for financial assistance. The new $50 million Max Hayes High School will be a catalyst to improve the Stockyard neighborhood, and the $500 million transformation of The MetroHealth System will improve the Near West Side. La Villa Hispana will partner with the Hispanic Alliance Inc. to develop the W. 25th St. and Clark Ave. area.

Four Core Strategies

In addition to economic development, four core strategies (listed below) will focus the efforts of the Office and the Council. Here are these core strategies and their justification:

View the Brooklyn Centre Group Facilitation 2014-10-25 Album on Flickr here.

Big-box retail and highway construction decimated family businesses in our neighborhood retail district. Vacant businesses provide opportunities for new and family-owned start-ups. We can generate incentives by serving as a link between businesses and the City, but we want to get the businesses to network together to help themselves. For this reason, this business-centered approach is a core strategy.

Core Strategy #2: Improve quality of life and increase community involvement by getting resident and businesses to work together on safety, health, housing, and vacant land reuse and rehabilitation issues.

There are many reasons why residents and businesses should be involved in their neighborhoods. Increasing middle income-level rehabbed houses will attract young people to move into the community, raise their families, and stay here. We especially want to encourage low-income residents to stay and become effective voices. People will stay here if they perceive it is safe.

We must address code enforcement by focusing on absentee landlords, such as through the use of additional inspectors. We want to create a procedure for vacant land reuse and rehabilitation with resident and business input, to include the guidelines of the City and City Council. Because the lack of education, jobs, and housing causes health disparities in this community, a focus on safety, health, and housing must be a core strategy.

View the Brooklyn Centre Group Facilitation 2014-10-25 Album on Flickr here.

Core Strategy #3: Strengthen the CDO in order to raise the awareness of the community about the model of our organization.

We have a broad service area, and our challenge is to listen all 30,000 of our residents. In order to do this, we have to identify and cultivate people who are leaders to bring forth what people want. We will do this through community meetings, social activities, and projects. Based on this input, we need to create a concise and informative message to the community about the priorities of the residents and our connection to them.

The Office has no brand or niche to distinguish itself, and its name is unwieldy. However, we can create a new name and find our niche by focusing on the priorities of the residents. We also want to continue to build trustworthiness between our residents and the Office, whereby residents know that the Office will deliver on their promises.

Lastly, we want to create a governance structure for the Office, Council, residents, and businesses that advocate for the interests of the three neighborhoods. Now that we are committed to putting our community on the map, strengthening the Office becomes a core strategy.

Our neighborhoods have historical and cultural assets to attract new homeowners and businesses.

​Together, they make for a walkable, livable community.

View and download the Stockyard, Clark-Fulton, Brooklyn Centre Community Development Story by clicking or tapping the document below. Subscribe to Tom Romito on Scribd here.

Like the Office, our neighborhoods lack such brands or niches. Our neighborhoods can become a premier community for people to live in if the gateway intersections are vibrant with these amenities. It’s time for branding to become a core strategy.

​An action plan completes the strategic plan. It assigns specific actions for accomplishing each strategy. It also assigns responsibility to the Office and the Council for championing each action item.

​Do you have a development strategy planning process you'd like to share? Go ahead! I hope you'll add your story in the comment section below.

Tom Romito, Facilitator, helps organizations and communities survive and thrive. Tom writes about how organizations can build capacity with Team Building, Action Planning and Strategic Planning. Got a question? Send me an email at thomasmromito@gmail.com

About

Tom Romito is an interpreter of Native American Culture, a facilitator of organizations who want to grow, and a Reiki practitioner dedicated to helping people heal. Tom shares stories and skills to help you energize your world.